WARNING: Smut!

Chapter 25—Friday Night Lights

I rode the elevator up to the seventh floor, and just as I was reaching for the apartment doorknob the door jerked open. Ranger grabbed my wrist and yanked me inside, slamming the door and flattening me against it with his body. His hair was down and damp, and he was wearing nothing but a pair of sweatpants low on his hips. The need for him leaped in me, took me prisoner.

He pressed his forearms against the door on each side of my head, both of his hands wrapping into my hair and pulling my head back. His mouth covered mine, his tongue probing, seeking, taking.

My arms wrapped around his powerful body, one hand sliding up his neck into his hair and the other creeping down inside the waistband of his sweats to palm the muscles of his ass as they flexed with his hips pumping against me. He pushed a knee between my legs so that his hard-muscled thigh was tight against my groin, and I began rotating myself against him. The thrill whipped through me, and my thighs trembled as the desire built. Omigod, what he does to me!

His lips worked over to my ear, licking and biting at the lobe. Pulling my head further back to expose my neck, he dipped down and his mouth savaged my throat, sending my pulse into overdrive and soaking my already damp panties. And the climax burst over me, sudden and staggering, gasping and shuddering through every inch.

"Babe," Ranger rumbled against my neck, holding me tight to the door so I wouldn't fall.

I couldn't speak, but I held him as if my life depended on it, and perhaps it did. In the three years I'd known him, and especially during the past week we'd been together, this man had come to mean more to me than my own life. I loved him so much that I felt as if my heart had been torn from my body and inserted into his chest, beating only for him.

He leaned back to look at my face, and I knew he read every thought, understood every emotion. And I could read his eyes, too, and the love I saw there brought tears gushing out and running down my cheeks.

I finally found my voice, thick and tear-filled. "Carlos, I love you so much." The words seemed too small, somehow, but I couldn't find any way to convey the depth of my feeling for him.

He understood, though. "Stephanie, tu es mi corazón, mi alma, mi vida. You are my heart, my soul, my life. Te amo, Babe."

We stayed there, bound together, for long moments until finally Ranger stepped back. "Hungry, Babe?"

"Starved," I answered, but I wanted him more than I wanted food. That must be true love, when my heart overrules my stomach.

He gave me the wolf grin, knowing what I was thinking as always. "Ella will be here with dinner in fifteen minutes, and what I want to do to you will take much longer than that. So why don't you go take a quick shower and get comfortable before dinner?"

I pouted, but he took my hand and pulled me toward the bedroom, pausing only to grab a glass of wine that was sitting on the breakfast bar. As he pushed me into the bathroom he handed the wine to me and gave me a quick kiss before leaving and shutting the door behind him.

I was a little surprised he didn't offer to join me in the shower. He's always telling me how good he is there, and I knew from the past week how very true that was. Just as well, I supposed, since Ella would be up with dinner.

I took a sip of wine before stripping off my clothes and clipping my hair up on top of my head. Adjusting the shower, I sipped the wine again before stepping in.

It felt marvelous, the hot water washing away all the tension of a long and busy week. Not that I really had any tension left after that orgasm, I thought. But I'd been a little stressed, worrying about the new job, dealing with my family and Joe, beginning to adjust to my new relationship with Ranger.

When I stepped out of the shower in a cloud of Bulgari-scented steam, my clothes were gone from the floor where I dropped them. Instead, there was an exquisite rose-colored silk negligee with matching peignoir on the vanity next to my wine glass.

After drying off with one of Ranger's sinful towels and slathering lotion on every inch of my skin, I slipped into the lingerie. It fit perfectly, and was just diaphanous enough to be alluring without being too revealing. I studied myself in the mirror, turning from side to side to admire the graceful fit. I felt beautiful, and the silk caressed my skin like the petals of a rose.

Checking my face, I decided the post-orgasmic glow was enough that I didn't need any further enhancement. Letting my hair down I styled it with my fingers, knowing Ranger would like the absence of makeup and the wild curls flowing down over my shoulders.

As I stepped out into the bedroom carrying my wine I gasped. It was lit only by candles, at least a dozen of them, adding warmth to the normally cool minimalist décor. I continued out into the living area of the apartment, and there also candles abounded. It looked like something out of a movie, the flickering light casting dancing shadows on the walls and ceiling.

Dinner was laid out on the dining room table, with candles burning there as well. Ranger stood holding a chair for me, still shirtless and barefoot in his sweatpants, the fluctuating illumination emphasizing his magnificent muscle definition.

"Babe," he said, gesturing to the chair. "You look absolutely breathtaking."

"So do you, Soldier. And so does the apartment. Why all the candles?"

"I had Ella get them. It's our one-week anniversary and I wanted tonight to be special. It seemed like a good idea at the time."

"It was, it is a great idea."

oOo

I have no memory of what we ate for dinner. Since Ella made it, I'm sure it was delicious, but I had no thoughts for anything other than the man sitting across from me, his eyes dark and blazing in the candlelight.

I put down my fork.

"Dessert, Babe?" Ranger asked.

"No, thanks."

He raised an eyebrow at me. "No dessert? That's not like you, Babe."

"I've had enough food. I'm hungry for something else. Take me to bed. Now."

In a nanosecond he was around the table, sweeping me up into his arms and carrying me into the bedroom. He stood me in front of him and removed the peignoir, leaving me in the sheer long negligee only.

I flung myself at him, wrapping my arms around his neck and pulling his head down, kissing him like it was end of the world. I wanted him so much I thought I'd pass out from lust if he didn't take me right away. I rubbed my body against his and pushed as if I were trying to crawl inside him, to be assimilated into him, to become part of him.

I moaned and tried to pull him onto the bed. "Carlos, please, I need you so much."

His eyes dipped down my body and then back up to my face, and they were glittering obsidian orbs, darker and deeper than I thought possible. My nipples were steel bayonets trying to puncture the fabric of the gown. I couldn't hold back another moan.

"Babe, my plan was to undress you very slowly, taking my time and tasting every inch of you. But where you're concerned my plans just seem to fly apart." Ranger slid his hands down my sides to my hips, grabbed the gown and yanked it up over my head.

He stepped back and looked at me, naked before him, my skin very pale next to his darkness in the candlelight. I reached for the waistband of his sweats, jerking them down so they fell to his ankles, exposing an enormous erection.

Kicking the pants off, he lifted me onto the bed, laying me on my back and climbing to brace himself over me. I pulled his weight down onto me, and after a very brief resistance he conceded defeat and lowered himself between my legs.

Sliding a hand between us he stroked my slickness and groaned, "Dios, Babe, you're so wet you're dripping."

"It's all for you, Carlos," I choked out, almost sobbing with my need for him. "Fuck me… right now."

The sound that came out of him was somewhere between a whimper and a wail as he slid easily into my depths, tearing a cry from me as well. He tried to pause, but I wouldn't allow it. I needed his hardness driving into me, stretching me, filling me, and I grabbed his ass with both hands and thrust my hips up to meet him.

He responded instantly, hammering into me, making that whimper-wail groan with each breath. His eyes were closed, his beautiful face tense with the effort of trying to hold on, to make it last. The feeling of him was buzzing through my blood, the taste of him, the smell, and we flew over the peak together..

"Stephanie!" he cried out, his cock jerking and throbbing, pouring his heat inside me. I came with a cry that was almost a scream, the climax crashing over me, sending billows of ecstasy from my center outward until my whole body was overcome with it.

oOo

Sometime later we were lying side by side on our backs, watching the candlelight wavering on the ceiling, our breathing finally back to normal. Ranger rolled toward me, his hands grabbing my wrists and raising them up over my head as he kissed me, his tongue exploring my mouth, teasing and playing. I could feel the need for him beginning to build again.

Ending the kiss, he said to me, "It's time, Babe."

"Time for what, Soldier?"

"Time for me to get my control back," and before I knew what was happening my hands were cuffed to the headboard.

I gasped, pulling against the cuffs. It was a pair of leg shackles, and the longer chain between them was wrapped around a metal bar that was part of the bed frame. "Ranger," I said, "I thought you didn't need handcuffs to enslave a woman."

He gave me the wolf grin as he hopped off the bed. "Babe, where you're concerned all the rules go out the window. You made me lose control. Now I'm going to make you lose it."

He disappeared through the bedroom door, and I yanked at the cuffs, trying to see if I could get free. Nope, nothing loose, no give.

I rolled first to one side, then the other, looking at the nightstands for a key. Nothing in sight.

I was swinging my body to the side, reaching for the drawer of the nightstand with my toes when he came back through the door sporting a colossal hard-on and carrying a couple bottles of water and a plate. He grinned at me again. "Looking for something, Babe?"

I flounced back to the center of the bed, at least as much as you can flounce when your hands are cuffed above your head. "Let me go." Death glare.

The grin remained firmly in place. "Not a chance."

Fucking useless death glare.

I decided to try a whine. "Raaangerrrr…"

"Baaaabe…"

Damn! He's got my exact whiny tone down.

Time to pout. "If you don't let me go, I'll be mad at you."

"You can't stay mad at me, Babe. You love me too much."

Arrogant bastard!

But I couldn't deny he was an amazingly beautiful, hot, sensual arrogant bastard, and I wanted him so much I thought I might die without him. My whole body was tingling under his long, focused look, and a thrill fizzled through me at the thought of what he might do.

His eyes heated, and in an instant the grin was gone. His lips parted a little and I could see the tip of his tongue between his sharp, white teeth. He looked fiery and dangerous, sexy and scary. He had a face made for candlelight, the planes and angles of it cutting into me, tearing me apart.

I shivered as he set the plate and one bottle of water on the nightstand and twisted the cap off the second bottle of water, taking a deep drink.

"Thirsty, Babe?" he asked, his voice low and dark.

I nodded, my voice having deserted me at the staggering male beauty of his face.

He held the bottle to my lips, allowing me to drink, and then bent down to lick the wetness from my lower lip. Bringing the bottle back up he tilted it so that water dribbled onto my throat and chest. I shivered again at the cold, wetness on my overheated skin.

He set the bottle on the nightstand and turned back to me, his eyes black as a thousand midnights. I was quivering with need, and one of the drops of water started to roll down the side of my neck.

Quick as a cat he was on the bed beside me, his tongue capturing the drop before it could hit the bed. The heat of his mouth combined with the velvet of his tongue forced a gasp from me, and I panted as his lips traced the path of the water droplets to the hollow of my throat.

He lapped up the water that had collected there and licked around the side of my neck where he'd marked me last weekend. Deliberately he sucked hard at the faded mark, renewing it, and the pain of it sent waves of pleasure all through me. My nipples were as hard as diamonds, and I arched my back and pushed my chest up, my actions begging him to lick them, suck them, devour them.

He took his sweet time licking his way down the center of my chest, then circled a breast with his tongue, swirling around in ever-decreasing circles until he reached the aureole. I was tense all over, just waiting for him to latch onto the tip, but instead he circled back out, round and round and round, until he reached the center of my chest.

I whimpered, and he knew what I wanted, but instead of relieving my tension he turned to the other breast. This one he treated with long licks from the outer edge toward the center, but never quite reaching the aching peak.

I was moaning and thrashing, trying to get my nipple into his mouth, but he was adroit in avoiding touching it. When I was exhausted from trying and finally relaxed back into the bed he abruptly switched back to the first breast, sucking the nipple hard into his mouth, biting down gently and prodding the peak with the tip of his tongue.

He hadn't even touched me below the waist yet, but the orgasm exploded, my body going rigid and erupting into spasms. The juices flooded from my already wet pussy, soaking my thighs and dripping down my ass onto the sheet below me.

Ranger's eyes never left my face as I came, their blackness like deep space with burning embers within. "When you come it's like watching the doorway to heaven open," he told me, his voice thick and husky. "I've never seen anything so beautiful in my life."

"Carlos, I need you inside me, please," I begged unashamedly.

"Not yet, Babe. We haven't had our dessert yet."

TBC